Fear of Falling
by Sweet Bliss
Summary: [OneShot] A night before the Chuunin exams the genin gather together to talk about the following days and what they fear most. [Implied SasuSaku & InoShika]


**__**

Fear of Falling

By: Sweet Bliss

****

A/N: Just a little one-shot I decided to write while making my story 'A Day in Life'. It takes place write before the Chuunin exams, the rookie nine and Gai's team have a little gathering to discuss the following days. Slight SasuSaku and some implied Ino and Shikamaru… So please read and review.

F-E-A-R--O-F--F-A-L-L-I-N-G

* * *

Rain poured down hard on the empty streets of Konohagakure. All villagers of the village hidden in leaves were sound asleep, eagerly awaiting the next few days. Well, not everyone…

* * *

The pink haired girl shivered slightly from the cold, bringing the red quilt closer to herself. Jade eyes looked at all the genin ninja around her. The pale blonde, Ino, snuggled into the warmth of her lazy teammate, Shikamaru, absent-mindedly. The third member of Team 10, Choji, wrapped the worn-out quilt tighter around his 'pleasingly plump' body, as he dumped the last of his barbeque chips into his mouth. The loudmouthed Kiba was silently stroking the soft, white fur of his small canine friend. Shino sat in the corner, messing with his bugs every once in awhile, and Hinata sat contented beside Naruto who was occasionally dozing off from lack of sleep. Neji moaned in frustration, growing tired of his fellow male teammate, Rock Lee, and the boy's chatter of the power of youth. Ten-Ten rhythmically tapped her fingers on the ground, sitting cross-legged, staring down at the cracked, splintery wood before her. Then there was the Uchiha prodigy. The ivory skinned boy's obsidian orbs stared off into the distance, ignoring the world going on around him. Sakura lowered her head when the memory of that morning snuck up on her. Tears formed around the edges of her eyes. He thought she was weak, worthless, lower than Naruto, and not worth his time at all.

Sleeping bags were rolled up and were packed into a dark corner. The fragile girl didn't really remember why they were here, she was too sleepy and tired to listen to her ex-best friend's voice on the other line. However, since she arrived, she couldn't get back to sleep. Ino shifted once again turning to face all the other ninjas beside her and questioned softly, "Is anyone nervous about the exams except me?" The question hung in the air. Were they? Should they be? Shikamaru placed his chin on the top of Ino's head, closing his eyes, trying to get some sleep. Sakura stared out at the dark blue hues of the sky. Leaning the back of her head against the cool surface of the abandoned building Sakura said, "I guess we're all a little jittery. Some more than others, I guess."

The silence once again surrounded them until Naruto cracked open his left eye and spoke yawning, "How about we play a little game to pass the time?" Ten-Ten stopped her tapping and raised an eyebrow. "What kind of game, Naruto?" The blonde shrugged then said, "We can… I dunno." Ino rolled her eyes and Shikamaru muttered lazily, "How troublesome."

Jade locked with onyx for a brief second before the pink haired girl sneezed. Stretching she looked at the few people who were still awake. Ino was staring at the liquid in her pale blue cup and Shikamaru was looking up at the ceiling of the small building. Kiba was asleep, with Akamaru as a pillow and Shino appeared to be asleep, though it was hard to tell because of his sunglasses. Rock Lee was asleep beside Choji, who were both snoring pretty loudly. Naruto was looking down at his shoes trying to stay awake, and Hinata sat next to him, blushing furiously, which went by Naruto unnoticed. Ten-Ten was now laying looking at the dark clouds that were about to pour. Neji sat away from the others in a dark corner thinking.

Naruto yawned disturbing the soft silence around everyone. "Why don't we just talk about the exams?" When nobody complained about his suggestion, Naruto continued, "I'm afraid they'll give me a written test." Hinata giggled then said, "I guess t-that would be b-bad, I just hope no one gets hurt during the test." Ino grumbled out, "I don't want forehead-girl getting too cozy with _my _Sasuke-kun." Sakura frowned at the insult but didn't say anything of it and Shikamaru took no time in waiting and said, "I really don't care about what happens, but I do not want some troublesome people underestimating Choji because of his weight." Some of the ninja smiled lightly, due to Shikamaru's protectiveness of his friend. Neji tapped his chin with his right index finger. "I will not allow anyone to defeat me," he answered the question then motioned for Ten-Ten to answer. "I guess I don't want to be looked down upon because I have no skills except those with weapons." Naruto nodded to everyone's answers and smiled. He knew, as well as the others, that today they'd bond, but tomorrow they would all act as if nothing happened. The blond loudmouth told Sakura it was her turn. "I do not want to appear weak to anyone. I want to be able to defend and take care of my team when it comes time to do so," she answered calmly and quietly. Sasuke glimpsed at her, an unreadable expression on his face. Ino's expression turned sour but her voice didn't come out as she intended, "Like _you_ could protect _them_. _You're_ the one _they'll_ be protecting."

Sakura looked down, ashamed. She'd thought that maybe she could be helpful to her team but even Ino thought she was weak. Tears formed but she quickly blinked them away, and clenching her fists she fought back the urge to yell at Ino. Yawns from Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru brought her from her thoughts of killing Ino slowly. Picking up his orange sleeping bag and dropping it on the creaky wooden floor, Naruto called it a day and told everyone that they needed to rest in order to be ready for the next day. Sakura unrolled her pink sleeping bag, ignoring the onyx eyes that were watching her every movement. Usually, she'd be blushing just at the sight but not now. She was tired, moody, hurt, ashamed, and unconfident. "Night, Sasuke," she whispered, dropping the usual suffix, as she snuggled into her sleeping bag.

Rain poured down hard on the empty streets of Konohagakure. All villagers of the village hidden in leaves were sound asleep, eagerly awaiting the next few days. Well, not everyone…

Sasuke stared at all his fellow genin who were sleeping soundlessly or snoring quite loudly. He stared out into the pouring rain that refused to let up any time soon. The onyx eyed boy enjoyed the rainy weather, for it seemed to have a calming atmosphere, and it eased off the sadness growing inside him. Smirking at his two teammates, he silently muttered 'dobe' at the sight of Naruto, who was snoring loudly, limbs spread everywhere. Lifting his gaze from Naruto he brought it to Sakura, who'd been quite the opposite of her usual bubbly, annoying, and somehow cute self. It wasn't like he wanted to notice, he just happened to have been observing her that's all. The pink haired, fragile looking girl shivered making Sasuke do the most uncharacteristic thing of all. He picked up the discarded quilt she had once held and covered her up. Glancing over at her, the raven haired boy made sure his female teammate was asleep before he whispered, "I don't want to fail in protecting you, Sakura. I can't stand to see you hurt, and if someone hurts you, they will pay." Sasuke tucked the covers underneath her chin and he walked over to his blond haired male teammate and kicked his left leg slightly, causing the boy to roll over onto his side and murmur something in his sleep. Taking one last glance at his teammates, Sasuke gently placed his sleeping bag down bedside Sakura and fell into a dreamless sleep.

**

* * *

A/N: Okay, just a little one-shot I decided to throw out there. It's different from my other stories mainly because I kept some of them in character. Anyways, read & review please. No flames! Love you all!**


End file.
